The Cape Town Affair (1967)

Go watch Pickup on South Street instead, 19 July 2015

The Cape Town Affair is a remake of the classic Pickup on South Street. In this one, without realizing what he's doing, a pickpocket named Skip (James Brolin) steals some microfilm from a woman named Candy (Jacqueline Bisset). Candy didn't really know what she had - she was just working as a go-between. Pretty soon, Skip and Candy have secret agents from both sides trying to get the microfilm. And at least one of them doesn't play nice.

My advice - skip The Cape Town Affair and look for the original. The problem with the remake is that much of it is just plain old dull. I blame a lot of that on Brolin. Richard Widmark was a big part of making the original as entertaining as it was. Brolin is no Widmark. And if Brolin's not to blame, then surely director Robert D. Webb is. The direction is uninspired leading to a lifeless film. Webb is no Samuel Fuller.

Because I didn't rate it lower than a 4/10, there's obviously something here I did enjoy. First, if nothing else, watching The Cape Town Affair is like opening a time capsule. I've seen thousands of movies in my life, but I've never seen one that did a better job of documenting what Cape Town actually looked like in the 60s. Very interesting. Second, Jacqueline Bisset is worth at least a point in the rating. I think that all I need to say is that I was 14 years old when I saw The Deep in the theater. If you've seen the movie, you'll understand my fascination with Ms. Bisset.

4/10